One Chance To Get This Right
by I' shou'L'd be 'OVE'r 'YOU
Summary: Her mom died. Her dad is sending her to live with her cousin. There she encounters someone, a boy, who she's known all her life. She runs from his feelings for her and refuses to face her own. Until... (For previous readers in regards to the updates: I changed the name of my OC. The story itself is the same.)
1. Author's Intro

Author's Intro

Hello there. If you're reading this you are about to enter the world of my Twilight. Keep in mind that this story and the ones to follow are not meant to be cohesive with the books. While some instances may be the same or somewhat similar, they all end differently. The characters are the same. The way they look are the same. So if you're reading this because you love Twilight, I'm sorry to say you may be disappointed. This love story is not all it's cracked up to be. It's a love story based on real life not a fantasy even though there are a bunch of creatures of fantasy. So if you want, read the story. I hope you enjoy it. And remember reviews are always nice.

:] ~Signed,

The Author


	2. So We Meet Again?

My name is Aria Alaya Torres. My boyfriend's name is Jacob Black. I don't know if he has a middle name. I never thought to ask. Anyway, we both live on the Quileute reservation in La Push, Washington. I used to live on the Makah reservation in Neah Bay, Washington, but now I live with my cousin. My cousin, Jacob's best friend, is Embry Call.

The way Jacob and I met was a little more than awkward. Embry took me down to the beach during one of my visits. We were hanging out and then Jacob and his other friend Quil showed up. Then it seemed like everyone was coming down to the beach. Some of the kids that went to the high school in Forks came down to surf. There was a girl with them named Bella Swan. The day I met her was just weird, but that's a story for later.

Jacob went up to the van she was sitting in with a couple of other guys. Embry caught me watching him and he laughed.

"What?" I asked shyly, looking over at Embry.

"You're staring after him like you know him."

"I know him enough. Don't you remember when I used to come here all the time to visit? You were always with him. Jacob really has changed a lot since then."

"Yeah and you're like two years younger than him."

"Oh, not even. He's like fifteen and I'm only a few months behind him."

"Then talk to him."

When I turned back to look at Jacob, he was walking across the sand with an average looking girl with long bronze hair.

"He says she moved here from Arizona to live with her dad."

"Who's her dad?"

"Charlie Swan, you know, the chief of police in Forks."

"She's Bella?"

Embry nodded and turned away, "Come one, help me start the fire."

Some of the others had begun to gather pieces of wood.

"Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?" one of the Forks boys asked.

I shook my head and he smiled at me. He tossed a couple of pieces of driftwood into the dancing, yellow flames and then it began to burn blue. I gasped and smiled up at him. He wiped his hands together to get the sand off and then moved around the flames to stand next to me.

"I'm Mike." He said with a boyish smile as he held his hand out to me.

I took his hand and smiled back, "My name is Aria."

We shook hands for only a few seconds. Jacob and Bella had come to sit by the flames. I looked at Jake's face through the fire to see something that looked like anger upsetting his demeanor. He stood. Bella looked up at him and he just smiled down at her. That smiled disappeared when he looked at me. He cocked his head to the side, beckoning me to follow him. I excused myself from my conversation with Mike and followed. Jacob and I walked down the beach, barefoot and in silence.

"Aren't you going to say something?" he finally asked.

"Is there anything particular you'd like me to say?"

"What was up with you and that guy?"

"Nothing. I just met him. And why do you care?"

"Because Embry and my dad always hoped we would end up together."

"And maybe we will, but we won't if you're going to be all jealous."

He scoffed, "I am not jealous."

"Oh you so are!" I yelled and pushed him gently.

He smiled and laughed. His hand brushed against mine and then his fingers twined with mine. I pulled my hand away and the smile on his face disappeared.

"What I can't hold your hand?"

I stopped and turned to look at him. I smiled up at him, "Of course you can," I said then I stood on my toes bringing my lips to his ear, "just not yet." I whispered.

I ran down the beach and he chased me. He only caught up to me because I tripped on a rock. Then I had him pinned down against the sand. Granted, he was only acting like he couldn't flip me over.

"Alright you win!"

"Fight back you loser."

"No, not until you kiss me."

I stood up and stepped away from him. I walked toward the water, getting close enough for the tide to wash over my feet. I heard him sigh then groan as he got to his feet. He stood next to me, his eyes on my face. I turned my head, looking away from him.

"I'm sorry."

I looked at him, "For what?"

"I shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine, Jake. Embry never told you, did he?"

"Tell me what?"

"When I was younger, I was kidnapped. Anything after that I don't remember. I have problems that my family, everyone but Embry, tries to ignore. I can't ignore them. I've tried to work past them."

"You should know I would never hurt you in any way."

"I know but…" I cut my sentence short when I looked up at him and saw he was looking at my neck.

The wind had blown my hair, revealing the scar that stretched from my heart, up my left shoulder and around the back of my neck. I just nodded and then looked down at my feet. I looked at him again and this time he was looking at my face, scanning it, looking for evidence of my pain. I refused to show any.

"You don't have to tell me. I want to protect you but you have to let me."

"I…"

I turned and ran down the beach, back toward the fire.

"Aria stop!" he yelled after me.

I kept running. When I finally made it back, I was crying. Embry caught me.

"What happened?"

I shook my head.

"Aria, tell me!"

I looked at him through my tears and brought my hand to his chest. I used my index finger to trace a line from over his heart, up his left shoulder, and around his neck. His eyes grew wide.

"Quil, can you take her home for me? I want to talk to Jacob."

Quil nodded and ran to take my hand. He led me down the beach and took me back to Embry's house. I left Quil at the door and went into Embry's room. While I was leaving the beach, I could hear Embry yelling at Jacob. Asking him why he brought up the scar. Asking him why he made me tell him the story behind it. Then Jacob yelling back saying he didn't make me do anything. Anything said after that, I was too far away to hear.

I lay on Embry's bed and didn't move for what seemed like hours before I finally fell asleep. I wasn't sure how long I was asleep. All I knew is that around midnight Embry woke me up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I groaned, sitting up.

"You wanna tell me what happened?"

"He didn't make me tell him anything by the way. The wind blew my hair away from my neck and he saw it. He gasped. I knew what he was gasping at so I told him."

"Didn't your mom tell you not to talk about it?"

"She did but she's gone now, Em. That's why my dad sent me here. He'll be calling in the morning. He wants to talk to your mom about me staying here."

I bit at my thumbnail and looked up at him.

"You're always welcome here. You will always have a home here."

"I don't want to be here. I feel like he's forcing me to run from something."

"What do you mean?"

"I never thought my father would send me away. I'm all he has left. After my mom died, he said he would never want to lose me. Now he's trying to send me down here. I don't want to be here anymore than for a visit."

"You may not have a choice, but why don't you want to stay here?"

"I would have to leave everything behind and come here to nothing but you."

"To me and to Jacob. You seriously have no idea how he feels about you."

"I don't care how he feels about me. I don't want to come down here to nothing but a possible heartbreak."

"He wouldn't hurt you."

"What about that girl? Bella or whatever her name is?"

"No worries there." he said standing.

"How come?"

"You'll have to ask Jacob. Now go back to sleep. I'll take the couch tonight."

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. He kissed my forehead and left the room. I lie back down and fell into a subconscious train of thought.

Today was awkward. I knew I would have to talk to Jacob tomorrow about everything. I didn't want to. I didn't want to face him after running from him the way I did. I'll run from him again. Embry of course would force me to talk to Jacob. I just felt like I hurt him running away the way I did. I know I hurt him.


	3. Falling, Falling, Falling CRASH!

I woke up to find Embry staring at me. I jumped up and pulled the cover tight around me. I huddled against the headboard.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting you up. Jake's outside."

"Embry, no."

"Yes, you need to talk to him."

"No."

He nodded and smiled. I shook my head but smiled back. Then his smile disappeared and he glared at me. He pulled me out of bed. My bare feet grew cold when they touched the hardwood floor of his bedroom. I fought against his pull but he refused to let me go. I groaned as he pushed me out the front door and into what felt like a wall. I looked up to see Jacob, his long hair drawn back into a ponytail.

"Hey." He mumbled.

I stepped away from him and went back into the house. I shut the front door on both Jacob and Embry. I leaned against the door and listened to them.

"See, I told you this was stupid. She doesn't want to talk to me."

"It's not that she doesn't. You're not doing enough."

"So you want me to just bust in and force her to listen to me."

"Dude, she's on the other side of the door."

He knew me so well.

"Aria, you don't have to talk to me. I just need you to listen to me. I know what you've been through. I lost my mom too. What you told me yesterday, I can't identify with but I want to be there for you. But I need you to let me. I need you to give me a chance to help you get past this."

"Jacob, it's not that I don't want to get this past this. I do and I know I can't do it by myself but I just don't know if I can take it. How long will it be before you leave me? My own father is sending me away."

"I won't leave you, Aria. I promise. I won't leave you until you tell me to go. I won't touch you unless you ask me to. I will never hurt you. I will never let anyone else hurt you. Me, Embry, Quil even, we've always been here. I will always be with you."

I grabbed to doorknob and held onto it for a second. I slowly began to turn it, trying to keep myself from changing my mind. I threw the door open quickly as I thought of Jacob and the things that he was saying. I jumped into his arms and he held me tightly. He lifted me from the ground and it was then when I started to cry into his shoulder. I grabbed at his shirt and clenched the fabric in my fingers. When my feet touched the ground again, one hand found his neck and the other found his cheek. I pulled his lips down to mine. They met for only seconds at a time but each time felt like the first.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I…"

He put his finger to my lips, silencing me, "You don't have to say it if you're not ready. I understand. But I need you to know the truth about how I feel about you. And I need you to do is accept it."

"I accept it, Jacob. I accept you."

He smiled as his finger grazed my cheek, brushing my hair from my face and behind my ear. I smiled up at him.

"See Jake, I told you!" Embry yelled.

I had forgotten he was even there.

"Embry, I love you but go away."

"This is my house."

"Our house.

They both looked at me like I was crazy. Jacob was the one to speak up.

"So you're staying?" he mumbled, a slight happy tone to his voice.

"Yes, I'll be staying until I graduate in a couple of years then I can go wherever I want."

"And where do you want to go?"

"Truthfully, anywhere you are is where I want to be."

Embry, Jacob, and I went back to my house to pack my things. My dad and I said our goodbyes and then it was off to the Quileute Rez for a while. I didn't mind so much now that I had Jacob. I did mind after a while because he was always with his dad at Bella's house. If he wasn't there, it was impossible to find him. He liked to walk the beach and I didn't like to hunt for him. It was weird having him show up on my doorstep with a rose and a smile on his face. But with each rose, it only made me appreciate him more. Bella was around all the time and I didn't mind as much. I had him and she was jealous.

One day, about three months after I moved, she was hanging out at the house, Jake called me over. I walked through the front door with Embry following close behind. I went into the living room to find Jake and Bella sitting on the couch next to each other. I bounded over to Jacob and sat on his lap facing Bella. I tapped his nose with my finger and then touched my finger to my lips. He smiled and kissed me for a short while. Bella scoffed and probably rolled her eyes. It didn't help that I was wearing a short skirt and cami tank top.

"Get a room." She mumbled.

"Don't tempt me." Jacob whispered after he pulled away from the kiss.

I looked at Bella and she looked angry. Jake's hand rested on my bare thigh.

"If you don't like it, Bella, leave." I smiled.

"I was here first."

"But who wears the charm?"

I grabbed my necklace. Jacob had given it to me. It was small, wood-carved wolf nestled into a shell he had carved into a heart. He told me he had originally carved it for her but in the end decided it should be mine instead.

"Babe, you promised you would stop this jealously stuff."

"I'm not the jealous one she is."

He sighed, "Alright, let's go."

He stood up and carried me to his room. He dropped me on the bed, crossed his arms, and stared at me.

"What?"

He put his finger over his lips, hushing me. I bit my bottom lip and gave him a puppy dog face.

"Don't look at me like that."

"I'm sorry, Jake. I know I'm being difficult. I just don't like her being around. She makes me say and do crazy and mean things."

"You're not crazy. The thing is I'm the same way when you're around me and my friends. They always tell me how lucky I am to have someone as hot as you. And I get angry. I get jealous but you don't see me practically cussing them out. I mean, I could but I don't."

I stood up and moved to stand in front of him. I put my hand on his cheek and he leaned into my touch. He turned his head and kissed the palm of my hand.

"I love you, Jacob Black," I dropped my hand from his face, "and any idiot can tell she does too."

I tried to walk past him but he caught my arm and pulled me into a kiss. I pulled away from him and stood there glaring up at him.

"I love you, Aria Torres. You are my love and my life. Bella is my best friend."

"I'm going home."

"Aria, please tell me you're not breaking up with me."

"No, never, of course not. Just call me when she's gone. I don't want to be around her."

I turned around and left his room. I walked out the front door and Embry followed me shortly after. I turned to see Jacob standing in the doorway staring after me. Bella stepped up behind him and she put her hand on his shoulder.

She spoke. "Jake… I'm so sorry."

I couldn't hear her but I read her lips. When he turned around and left the doorway, she followed behind him after sticking her tongue out at me. I shook my head and turned back around. I ran, with Embry screaming after me, from Jacob's front yard and down to the beach.

I kicked off my shoes before stepping onto the sand. I walked to the water and watched the tide wash over my feet. I stood there for a second before undoing my belt, unbuttoning my skirt, and letting it fall to my feet. I took off my shirt next and left it there. I walked into the water. I put my hands flat against the surface of it and closed my eyes. I took in a deep breath and as I let it out a tear fell down my cheek.

"I know she'll take him from me eventually."

"No she won't."

I opened my eyes and turned to find Jacob standing there. His shirt was at his feet. I turned back toward the horizon.

"Go home Jacob."

"No, I came here for you. Bella is my friend. But I love you."

"But Jacob I can see it in the way you look at her. You love her too."

"No, I don't, Aria. Please believe me, I don't love her."

He had tears in his voice but I had to say what I had to say, "Jacob, don't lie to me. I know the truth. So you should know, now that I can, I'm going to go to school in the city. I'm gonna do my junior and my senior year at Forks High School. I know I'll be there with Bella but I have a plan. When I learn to like her, then we can be together Jake."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that until I can see you with her and not feel the need to stake my claim, we cannot be together."

"No, Aria, don't say that."

"It's been said. Jake, you need to go home."

"I'm not leaving you."

The tears in his voice were killing my resolve. I was hurting him. How could I be hurting him? I was hurting myself just knowing he was probably crying behind me. I heard the water move and after a while, the warmth of his body was there behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders and his lips were against my neck. A tear escaped my eye.

"I know you don't really want me to go. I'll stay. I promise you. I won't go anywhere. Just say the words, and Bella will go."

"I don't want you to have to choose between us. I just don't want her around so much. It drives me insane knowing that there was a time, before I came along, that you loved her as much as you love me now."

"I love you, Aria, with all my heart."

"Jacob, just stop it!"

"Stop what?"

"Loving me, I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you. I know you love me and I just don't understand why. Even as I try to leave you, you're standing here with me begging me not to, begging me to believe you. Damn it, Jacob, I love you, but I don't deserve you. Bella, she loves you. I do too but I can tell that even though she won't admit it, if you left her she would die."

"Then let her die. God forbid I lose you because of her."

"Yes, Jacob, God forbid. You're not losing me because of her. I just can't do this."

I turned toward him and walked past him. As the water got shallower, I began to pick up my pace. I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on. Then I grabbed my skirt from the ground. I ran back to my shoes, grabbed them from the ground and ran from the beach. I knew he was watching after me. I could practically feel his eyes on my back. About half way home I stopped to pull on my skirt then I started running again.

As I burst through the front door of my house, Embry jumped up from the couch, his eyes wide. His mom stuck her head from around the corner.

"Aria, honey what happened? Why are you all wet?"

I just shook my head and ran to my room. I slammed the door behind me and fell to my knees next to my bed. After a while, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Hey, you wanna talk about it?"

"Come in…"

Embry opened the door and just looked at me for a second. Then he walked over to the bed, after shutting the door behind him. He sat down and pulled me over to him. The tears that were soaking into my bedspread were now soaking into his shirt.

"What happened?"

"I went over to Jacob's and Bella was there. Then she and I got into a little thing."

"What kind of thing?"

"I kissed him. She told us to get a room. I told her if she didn't like it she should leave. Then Jacob carried me away and told me that I shouldn't be so jealous. Then I left and ran to the beach. He ran after me and I told him that it was best we weren't together and that he needed to leave me alone. That's not what I want Embry. It never will be. I need Jacob and now he's gone because I wanted to be stupid."

"First of all, if you want him back just call him. He's probably waiting at home right now. And second of all, you're not stupid. You've been through a lot and it's only normal for you to be scared of something serious.

"But he doesn't scare me. What I had with him didn't and still doesn't scare me. He always made me feel so safe and secure." I sat up off him, "You remember when I was little? You know after you guys found me? I was so scared of every little thing. I slept in my parents' bed every night. Then when I started sleeping in my room again, I would sleep with the door locked. Embry, Jacob was the only person that snapped me out of it. Whenever I would come to visit, Jacob would be here with you. He used to carry me around his back. We would build sandcastles on the beach together."

"I remember that. You were always so happy around him."

"One night, I heard my parents talking to Jake's dad. Mom was so happy that I was smiling again. She kept asking Billy if there was a way Jacob could visit me at home. Billy said there wasn't any way. Mom had opted for me to move down here long before now. After she died, Dad needed me around. After a while, he realized I was falling back to where I used to be but every time I would visit here, I would get back home and be happy. That's why he wanted me to move here."

"And now what? You want to go back home?"

"No, I don't. I'm just switching schools. Every morning I'm going to drive out to Forks and go to the high school there. I can't be at the Rez School with him. Seeing him every day would be too much."

"So you're going to leave me to deal with him asking me questions about you?"

"Sorry but it's something I have to do."

"Do you think you'll ever switch back?"

"I'll have to see how my year goes. I might not go if Jake and I can get things worked out."

He looked at me and smiled, "Well, since there's nothing I can do to change your mind. Call him tomorrow."

I nodded and he left the room.


	4. Seems About Right

I never called him. I would sit there by the phone, staring at it, trying to decide if I wanted to call him or not. I just could not get myself to pick up and dial his number. I reached for it a million times but never touched the phone. I didn't start school for a week or so I sat on the couch waiting for Embry to get back home.

"You know Jacob wasn't at school again today."

I sipped at my drink and shrugged.

"You care. I know you do."

"Why did you get home so late?"

"I went by Jake's house to make sure he was still alive."

I sat there and looked at him. I just shrugged again. Embry and I just stared at each other before he took a deep breath and grabbed the phone. He started pressing buttons.

"Embry, what are you doing?"

"I'm calling Jacob. I going to have him come over and you are going to talk to him whether you like it or not."

"Well I don't."

I jumped for the phone but he was a lot taller than me. I started to throw a temper tantrum and he stared at me wide eyed as he put the phone to his ear.

"Hey Jake, can you come over? *pause* Yeah she wants to talk to you. *pause* No she's fine. Just get here soon I might not live to see you."

"Damn right you won't!"

I snatched the phone from Embry's hand and hung it up. Then I hit him with it.

"Look, I'm sorry but you were just going to sit there and stare at the phone until someone made you call him. So I called him for you."

"Whatever."

"You're mad at me?"

"Yes. I would've called him when I was sure of what I wanted to say to him. I have no idea what to say to him."

"You shouldn't have to wonder. Tell him what you're feeling."

Jacob doesn't live that far off. He could run and considering he was probably already on his way here to talk to me. I also considered the fact that Embry went to his house before coming home, probably explaining to him his master plan for getting me to talk, which means Jake was probably already on his way. If he was outside the door now, then he would hear everything I was about to say and I wouldn't have to repeat myself, so I went for it.

"I would tell him that I feel like Bella means more to him than I do. I would tell him that I feel like I could lose him to her any day now. It could be one of those days I go to visit my dad and I'll come back to find him and Bella making out on the beach or on the cliff. Or we'll just kinda grow apart. She'll be around all the time and eventually I'll go over to his house, she'll be sitting next to him and I won't be able to sit with him. I'm not jealous. I'm not mad that she's his friend. I'm scared I'm going to lose him for whatever reason."

Then I heard the front door open. I looked past Embry to see Jacob standing there, tears in his eyes. Embry turned and went down the hallway.

"You could never lose me. You will never come home to find me with her. You are everything to me. We will never grow apart. Every day I've spent with you brought something new with it. It brought our first kiss. It brought so many new things. I taught you to swim. We went cliff diving together. We walk the beach together. We did everything together. It's not too late for us to keep it that way."

He extended his hand out to me and I just stared at it. Then I glanced up at him and back down to his hand. I stood and ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around my waist and he held me tight against his body.

"I thought I would lose you forever." I mumbled against his shoulder.

"But you didn't. I'm here."

"Yeah, for how long? Long enough for me to snap on you again?"

He pushed me back and looked at me, concern plaguing his features, "Snap on me all you want. Just like this time, next time I'm going to keep telling you I love you."

He pulled me back against him. After another few minutes, I pulled back enough so that I could kiss him. We stood there, our lips pressed together, for a few minutes. We pulled away from each other but we stood there, our foreheads just barely touching.

"Oh, how I have missed your kisses, not even a week apart and it feels like years."

I stifled a laugh, "How long did it take you to come up with that line?"

"Since Sunday when Embry told me he was going to come up with a plan to get us back together."

I smiled up at him and his hand found its way to my face.

"Let's go to the beach. Quil and the others are having a bonfire tonight."

I nodded and my smile widened.

"I have missed that smile as well."

"Why are you so proper all of a sudden?"

"It's not all of sudden, love. When you ran from me, I decided I needed to make some kind of change. I don't talk to Bella much anymore if at all. She's got a boyfriend now anyway. He doesn't like her coming around here. That just means I can have more time with you."

We went to the beach and it was almost like that first night. Jacob and I sat by the fire, his arms around me. Quil walked over and handed us some chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers. We set the box of graham crackers on the ground and just shared the chocolate and marshmallows. I broke off a piece of chocolate and held it towards Jake. He smiled and ate it from my hands before kissing me.

"It's nice to see you two all lovey-dovey again." Quil laughed.

Jacob threw a marshmallow at him.

"Hey now! Those aren't meant to be projectiles."

"Yeah whatever." Jacob smiled.

"Whatever."

Some time passed. We laughed and told stories. Jacob kept trying to get me to eat s'mores. After a while I started yawning. I lay on Jacob's shoulder and he put his arm around me.

"Getting tired?"

I nodded, "What time is it?"

"A little before midnight. You wanna go home?"

I nodded again. He stood up and crouched down in front of me.

"Climb up."

I climbed onto his back and he got to his feet. He carried me back to his house and dropped me on his bed. He pulled the cover over me and I rolled over. He kissed my cheek.

"I'm gonna go call your aunt. Let her know you're staying here tonight."

I nodded and he left the room. A little while after that he was speaking.

"Hey Ms. Call. ** No they're both fine. ** Yeah, we were at the beach and she was getting tired. I didn't know that she would make it all the way back home so I just brought her to my house. ** She's sleeping now. ** Yes ma'am first thing in the morning. See you then."

He hung up the phone and came back into the room. He stood in the doorway.

"She says I have to feed you before I bring you home."

I rolled over to look at him.

"I don't want to go home. I like being right here."

"I know you do. I'll see you in the morning."

He turned around.

"Jacob!" he turned back to me, "Stay with me. Please."

He climbed in the bed with me. He put his arm around me and held me close to him body. I pulled his arm tighter to me. His fingers were clenched into a fist.

"What's wrong?"

"You should know."

"Open your hand."

He unclenched his fist. I kissed the palm of his hand and he let out a breath. I traced a heart around the kiss and placed my hand in his. Our fingers intertwined.

"You know I love you right?" he whispered.

"Jake, tell me. What is it?"

I rolled over and looked at him. The moonlight came in through the window. His eyes were closed.

"Jacob, open your eyes and look at me." He did as I asked, "Tell me, Jake. Why are you acting like this?"

"I was thinking of everything. This past week without you killed me. Now the idea of not seeing you until the end of the day is bringing those feelings right back. I wish you didn't transfer schools. I wish I hadn't made you want to leave me in the first place."

"You think that was your fault?"

"Wasn't it?"

"Not completely, it was mostly Embry though. It was him with the way he kept coming home telling me Bella was at your house or you were with her."

"But every time I was with her, I was thinking of you. I was wishing I was here with you just like this."

I sat up and looked at him. He lifted his hand to my face.

"I love you Aria, so much more than I could ever love her."

"Prove it."

"How?"

"Kiss me and put every ounce of your love for me behind it."

Then he was kissing me, the warmth of his lips moving against mine. I could feel every bit of his love for me. He pulled away after a while and smiled at me. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and smiled back.

"Again."

He chuckled and pulled me onto his lap. With my legs on either side of his body, he pulled my face down to his. Our lips touched over and over. Then he turned his face from mine.

"I love you so much."

"I know. I love you too."

Then we were kissing again. His hands, which were once resting on the back of my legs, moved up to my thighs and then up the back of my shirt. That's when I realized what was happening. We had turned sixteen, he just a couple of months before me. We had talked about the right time when Embry started threatening Jacob about it. 'Don't even try to have sex with her Jake! I mean it!' This was too rash, too sudden. I was sitting here on top of this guy that had just a week ago made me cry. I pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"No, no it's okay. It's just…"

"Alright, I understand. Just answer me this, do you want me to stop?"

"I don't know."

"Do you realize I would never make you do something you wouldn't want to?"

"I do. I know we talked about this, Jake. I'm just not sure if I can truly wait until we're eighteen."

"Then as of now, you won't have to make any decisions. We will wait if that's what you want but we don't have to wait until we're eighteen. When we're both ready, then we will decide. Okay?"

I sighed, "I love you."

"I love you too."

I climbed off of him and then out of the bed. I went to his dresser and started searching through his drawers.

"What are you looking for?"

"Just wait a sec."

I found his white dress shirt then I pulled off my jeans and t-shirt. I put his shirt on and buttoned it up, leaving the top two buttons undone.

"You're not going to make this holding back thing easy are you?"

"No."

"Are we going to go to bed or not?"

"Yes."

I smiled and climbed into bed. I curled into his side and he wrapped his arms around me again. He took in a deep breath. As he drifted to sleep, I stared up at his face in the moonlight shining through the window.

Everything would be okay, I thought, he'll never hurt me again.

Then I closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep.

**Chapter 4: The Day We Compromise**

The next morning, I woke up alone. I sat up and looked around the room. The sunlight came in through the window but the hallway outside of Jake's door was dark.

"Jacob?" I muttered.

Then he poked his head around the corner, "Yes, love?"

"What are you doing?"

He didn't reply. He just smiled and then walked back down the hallway. I got out the bed and followed behind him, my bare feet against the cold floor. The top few buttons on the shirt were undone so it was practically falling off my shoulders. I went into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table with his dad.

"Jake what's wrong?"

He looked up at me. He extended his hand out to me. I walked over and took it. He pulled onto his lap.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing at all."

"Jacob we can't let her do this. It's not safe for her or for us."

I cocked my head to the side. Jacob shook his head at me and then looked at his dad, "She's old enough to make her own decisions. If you want I'll talk to her but that's all I can do."

"What's going on? Is this about me?"

"No, it's about Bella." Billy said coldly.

"Bella? What about Bella?"

"Dad, stop it. It's nothing."

"Yeah sure," I stood up and walked to the end of the hall, "it's nothing."

I walked down the hall and back to Jake's room. I found my clothes and pulled on my jeans first. I was just changing into my shirt when Jake walked in.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Why?"

"Because you apparently have to go see Bella, I don't want to stand in your way."

"You've never been in the way. Come with me."

"No, I'm going to go home."

He sighed. I pulled on my shirt. I turned to see him staring down at my arms.

"What?" I said softly.

"What happened to your arms?"

I looked down. I hadn't told him. Up and down my arms were dark lines. Over the past week, while Jake and I were apart, I had been scratching at my arms. Only the marks were more than mere scratches. I had dug into my skin leaving behind what looked like cut marks.

"Nothing." I pulled on my jacket and tried to walk past him. He put his arm out, blocking me.

"Tell me, Aria."

"It's nothing, Jacob, just some scratches."

"Please tell me you're not lying."

"I'm not lying."

"Let me rephrase that. Did you do them on purpose?"

"I don't know. Do you want me to lie to you?"

"Aria!"

"I'm not doing this right now Jake."

I moved his arm and left him standing there. This time, he didn't watch me leave. He followed me. I went through the door. He was right behind me. Eventually I was far enough away but when he yelled out for me, I had to stop to look at him.

"Aria, tell me the truth!"

"You want to hear the truth? That's what you want? Fine, here it is! I did it on purpose Jacob! I was alone! I was hurting! I watched myself bleed over and over again hoping one day you would just come through the door and stop me! But you didn't Jacob. You never came!"

"You didn't want me to! I tried to bring you back to me the day you ran away! You didn't want to come back! I called after you!" he walked closer to me with every word and his voice turned to whispers, "Do you honestly think I didn't want to chase after you?"

"Then why didn't you?"

"You wouldn't let me. By the time it had really registered with me that you were gone, it was too late. You were long gone."

"You knew I would go home. You should have come there."

"I would have had Embry not called me and cussed me out."

"Why does everything always come back to him?"

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that I love you. What does matter is that I will never let you run from me again. What does matter is that you and I are going to be together no matter who may come into my life."

"Bella didn't just come into your life. She's been there since the beginning."

"So you're going to leave me again?"

I had felt like I was going to cry until he asked that. Then I just started laughing.

"What are you, on crack?"

He laughed with me, "I'll take that as a no."

"You're right. Jake, I'm not going to leave you because of something like this."

He let out a relieved sigh before taking my face in his hands and putting his forehead to mine, "How did we get here?"

"We fought Jacob. It was a battle that we may have won but there's still a war to come."

"What makes you say that?"

"I start school on Monday."

'Which means?"

"I'll be seeing Bella every day."

"It's all my fault."

"Now, Jake, will you stop that? It's no more your fault than it is mine. If I hadn't been so quick to switch schools…"

"Then we never would have had last night. If you were still in school with me, you and I both know it would've only been a matter of time before someone knocked your books out of your hands and I would've been the only person that stopped to help you. Then I could've walked you to class and by the time the day was out you and I would've been making out behind the lockers somewhere."

He smiled. I laughed a little bit because he was right. That was probably how it would've happened.

"So do you think your aunt will let you just finish out the semester there and if you don't like it switch back?"

"We can ask. Hopefully she'll go for it. If not, I'll just tell her I miss all my old friends at the Rez School and maybe she'll take that."

So he walked me home. My aunt was sitting at the kitchen table with Embry.

"Mom, just calm down. Everything will be fine."

"What's happened?"

"Some mill guard was killed by some animal last night in the next county over. She's bugging out, scared it's gonna get closer to town."

"Yeah Mrs. Call, we'll all be fine."

"Not helping Jake. We'll be fine, though. Don't worry." I assured her.

She nodded, "Did you feed her like I told you to?"

"Didn't get the chance. She ran out on me."

Embry sighed, "What for this time?"

"My dad wants me to go see Bella."

"Jeez, Aria calm down. His dad wants him to go see her it's not like he wants to."

"It's the principle of the thing. I know Jake wants to go to. I'm not stupid."

Embry stuck his tongue out at me. I stuck mine out at him too.

"Will you two grow up?" his mom scolded, "Would you like to eat something?"

"Nah, I wanna go down to the beach for a little while."

My stomach growled; she rolled her eyes before picking up an apple. She held it out to me and I took it with a smile. I walked back out of the kitchen, taking Jake's hand as I passed him. I took him to my room where I changed clothes. I switched my jeans for a short red and black cloth skirt and a black cami. I put on a pair of red flip flops.

"You sure you don't want to put on something more? It might get cold later."

"Nope, it's supposed to be sunny out today."

He nodded. I pulled him from the house, although pulled may be the wrong word. He happily followed me but I was walked in front of him the whole time. We walked down to the beach hand in hand. I carried the apple with me, unbitten. As we stepped onto the sand, I took my shoes off. I left them there.

"Are you actually going to eat the apple?"

"I don't know."

"She'll be mad if you don't."

I took a bite, wrinkled my nose and spit it out.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"It tastes weird, like it's been sitting in hard liquor."

He took the fruit from me and sniffed it. He took a small bite then shrugged.

"It tastes fine."

"Hm."

"Maybe you're too stressed out. A beach day is exactly what you need."

I smiled. He tried to give me that wretched fruit back but I just shook my head.

"Come on, maybe the second bite won't be so bad."

I sighed and took the apple from him. I took another bite and he was right. It was fine. I finished it off as he found a stick and wrote something in the sand. I dropped the apple core at the base of a tree and watched him. When he was finished, I looked at it and wanted to start crying.

R & J

4-EVER

**Imagine it written inside of a big heart ")**

"Oh my gosh, Jake you are such a girl."

"Why would say that?"

"Only girls do this kind of thing."

"But you love it anyway."

"Yeah, I do. And I love you, so much. But you're not going to see Bella."

"But what if she really does need me?"

I thought about it, "Okay, you can go, but not without me. I'll wait in the car if you want but you're not leaving me here."

"Okay, I won't. Plus, that was the deal from the beginning."

I stuck my tongue out at him and he chased me down to the water. My legs were wet and so were his jeans. He caught me after a very short time. We stood there in the water kissing like there was no tomorrow.

"Hey, this a family beach." Someone yelled.

We looked over to see Quil and Embry.

"Well no one told you to watch."

"It's kind of hard to miss. I mean look at you, wrapped around each other like you're glued together."

I grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him out of the water, "Jealous much?"

"Just a little."

"Then you're really gonna hate this."

I pulled Jacob to me and kissed him again. Embry cleared his throat. We looked at him.

"Do you need anything from the store? Quil and I were just on our way there."

"Pop-tarts? Or do we have some at home?"

"None at all. I'll pick you up some. Same kind as usual?"

I nodded.

As they walked away I could hear Quil whisper, "How did Jake get so lucky?"

I laughed a little bit and looked at Jake, "Did you hear that?"

"What Quil said? Yeah, that's not the first time either. He hates he didn't get to you first."

"Well, I'm too happy with you to even think of another person."

"Me too, which is why this feud between you and Bella has to end."

"We'll see how my first day at her school goes first."

He shook his head then kissed my forehead. We went back to playing in the sand until the sun went down.


	5. Compromise

The next morning, I woke up alone. I sat up and looked around the room. The sunlight came in through the window but the hallway outside of Jake's door was dark.

"Jacob?" I muttered.

Then he poked his head around the corner, "Yes, love?"

"What are you doing?"

He didn't reply. He just smiled and then walked back down the hallway. I got out the bed and followed behind him, my bare feet against the cold floor. The top few buttons on the shirt were undone so it was practically falling off my shoulders. I went into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table with his dad.

"Jake what's wrong?"

He looked up at me. He extended his hand out to me. I walked over and took it. He pulled onto his lap.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing at all."

"Jacob we can't let her do this. It's not safe for her or for us."

I cocked my head to the side. Jacob shook his head at me and then looked at his dad, "She's old enough to make her own decisions. If you want I'll talk to her but that's all I can do."

"What's going on? Is this about me?"

"No, it's about Bella." Billy said coldly.

"Bella? What about Bella?"

"Dad, stop it. It's nothing."

"Yeah sure," I stood up and walked to the end of the hall, "it's nothing."

I walked down the hall and back to Jake's room. I found my clothes and pulled on my jeans first. I was just changing into my shirt when Jake walked in.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Why?"

"Because you apparently have to go see Bella, I don't want to stand in your way."

"You've never been in the way. Come with me."

"No, I'm going to go home."

He sighed. I pulled on my shirt. I turned to see him staring down at my arms.

"What?" I said softly.

"What happened to your arms?"

I looked down. I hadn't told him. Up and down my arms were dark lines. Over the past week, while Jake and I were apart, I had been scratching at my arms. Only the marks were more than mere scratches. I had dug into my skin leaving behind what looked like cut marks.

"Nothing." I pulled on my jacket and tried to walk past him. He put his arm out, blocking me.

"Tell me, Aria."

"It's nothing, Jacob, just some scratches."

"Please tell me you're not lying."

"I'm not lying."

"Let me rephrase that. Did you do them on purpose?"

"I don't know. Do you want me to lie to you?"

"Aria!"

"I'm not doing this right now Jake."

I moved his arm and left him standing there. This time, he didn't watch me leave. He followed me. I went through the door. He was right behind me. Eventually I was far enough away but when he yelled out for me, I had to stop to look at him.

"Aria, tell me the truth!"

"You want to hear the truth? That's what you want? Fine, here it is! I did it on purpose Jacob! I was alone! I was hurting! I watched myself bleed over and over again hoping one day you would just come through the door and stop me! But you didn't Jacob. You never came!"

"You didn't want me to! I tried to bring you back to me the day you ran away! You didn't want to come back! I called after you!" he walked closer to me with every word and his voice turned to whispers, "Do you honestly think I didn't want to chase after you?"

"Then why didn't you?"

"You wouldn't let me. By the time it had really registered with me that you were gone, it was too late. You were long gone."

"You knew I would go home. You should have come there."

"I would have had Embry not called me and cussed me out."

"Why does everything always come back to him?"

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that I love you. What does matter is that I will never let you run from me again. What does matter is that you and I are going to be together no matter who may come into my life."

"Bella didn't just come into your life. She's been there since the beginning."

"So you're going to leave me again?"

I had felt like I was going to cry until he asked that. Then I just started laughing.

"What are you, on crack?"

He laughed with me, "I'll take that as a no."

"You're right. Jake, I'm not going to leave you because of something like this."

He let out a relieved sigh before taking my face in his hands and putting his forehead to mine, "How did we get here?"

"We fought Jacob. It was a battle that we may have won but there's still a war to come."

"What makes you say that?"

"I start school on Monday."

'Which means?"

"I'll be seeing Bella every day."

"It's all my fault."

"Now, Jake, will you stop that? It's no more your fault than it is mine. If I hadn't been so quick to switch schools…"

"Then we never would have had last night. If you were still in school with me, you and I both know it would've only been a matter of time before someone knocked your books out of your hands and I would've been the only person that stopped to help you. Then I could've walked you to class and by the time the day was out you and I would've been making out behind the lockers somewhere."

He smiled. I laughed a little bit because he was right. That was probably how it would've happened.

"So do you think your aunt will let you just finish out the semester there and if you don't like it switch back?"

"We can ask. Hopefully she'll go for it. If not, I'll just tell her I miss all my old friends at the Rez School and maybe she'll take that."

So he walked me home. My aunt was sitting at the kitchen table with Embry.

"Mom, just calm down. Everything will be fine."

"What's happened?"

"Some mill guard was killed by some animal last night in the next county over. She's bugging out, scared it's gonna get closer to town."

"Yeah Mrs. Call, we'll all be fine."

"Not helping Jake. We'll be fine, though. Don't worry." I assured her.

She nodded, "Did you feed her like I told you to?"

"Didn't get the chance. She ran out on me."

Embry sighed, "What for this time?"

"My dad wants me to go see Bella."

"Jeez, Aria calm down. His dad wants him to go see her it's not like he wants to."

"It's the principle of the thing. I know Jake wants to go to. I'm not stupid."

Embry stuck his tongue out at me. I stuck mine out at him too.

"Will you two grow up?" his mom scolded, "Would you like to eat something?"

"Nah, I wanna go down to the beach for a little while."

My stomach growled; she rolled her eyes before picking up an apple. She held it out to me and I took it with a smile. I walked back out of the kitchen, taking Jake's hand as I passed him. I took him to my room where I changed clothes. I switched my jeans for a short red and black cloth skirt and a black cami. I put on a pair of red flip flops.

"You sure you don't want to put on something more? It might get cold later."

"Nope, it's supposed to be sunny out today."

He nodded. I pulled him from the house, although pulled may be the wrong word. He happily followed me but I was walked in front of him the whole time. We walked down to the beach hand in hand. I carried the apple with me, unbitten. As we stepped onto the sand, I took my shoes off. I left them there.

"Are you actually going to eat the apple?"

"I don't know."

"She'll be mad if you don't."

I took a bite, wrinkled my nose and spit it out.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"It tastes weird, like it's been sitting in hard liquor."

He took the fruit from me and sniffed it. He took a small bite then shrugged.

"It tastes fine."

"Hm."

"Maybe you're too stressed out. A beach day is exactly what you need."

I smiled. He tried to give me that wretched fruit back but I just shook my head.

"Come on, maybe the second bite won't be so bad."

I sighed and took the apple from him. I took another bite and he was right. It was fine. I finished it off as he found a stick and wrote something in the sand. I dropped the apple core at the base of a tree and watched him. When he was finished, I looked at it and wanted to start crying.

R & J

4-EVER

**Imagine it written inside of a big heart ")**

"Oh my gosh, Jake you are such a girl."

"Why would say that?"

"Only girls do this kind of thing."

"But you love it anyway."

"Yeah, I do. And I love you, so much. But you're not going to see Bella."

"But what if she really does need me?"

I thought about it, "Okay, you can go, but not without me. I'll wait in the car if you want but you're not leaving me here."

"Okay, I won't. Plus, that was the deal from the beginning."

I stuck my tongue out at him and he chased me down to the water. My legs were wet and so were his jeans. He caught me after a very short time. We stood there in the water kissing like there was no tomorrow.

"Hey, this a family beach." Someone yelled.

We looked over to see Quil and Embry.

"Well no one told you to watch."

"It's kind of hard to miss. I mean look at you, wrapped around each other like you're glued together."

I grabbed Jacob's hand and pulled him out of the water, "Jealous much?"

"Just a little."

"Then you're really gonna hate this."

I pulled Jacob to me and kissed him again. Embry cleared his throat. We looked at him.

"Do you need anything from the store? Quil and I were just on our way there."

"Pop-tarts? Or do we have some at home?"

"None at all. I'll pick you up some. Same kind as usual?"

I nodded.

As they walked away I could hear Quil whisper, "How did Jake get so lucky?"

I laughed a little bit and looked at Jake, "Did you hear that?"

"What Quil said? Yeah, that's not the first time either. He hates he didn't get to you first."

"Well, I'm too happy with you to even think of another person."

"Me too, which is why this feud between you and Bella has to end."

"We'll see how my first day at her school goes first."

He shook his head then kissed my forehead. We went back to playing in the sand until the sun went down.


	6. Change Had To Come Eventually

The first day wasn't so bad. Actually it was pretty good, but that's all I'm gonna say about it. I spent all day avoiding Bella and the questions I knew she would have about Jacob. I knew I wouldn't be able to answer them anyway. Jacob has his own reasons for stuff.

When I got home, Jacob was there with Embry. They were talking about something and it looked really serious.

"Hey guys." I ran over to them.

Jacob jumped to his feet and met me half way. He took my bag and we walked into the house.

"We need to talk to you." Embry muttered.

"What's wrong?"

I looked at Jacob and he just shook his head. I would have given the same look to Embry but he was already walking into the house. When we got inside, Embry's mom, my aunt, my father's sister was sitting on the couch crying. Jake's dad was there holding her hand.

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked; I was worried now.

"Aria, your dad had an ulterior motive for sending you here." My aunt whispered, "He," she paused and looked at Billy, "He was dying, Aria." Billy said for her.

"What?" I gasped, reaching for Jacob's hand.

"He's gone, baby." Jacob said pulling me closer to him.

I pushed away from him, "So he sent me away so he could die alone?"

"He's been in the hospital since the day after you left."

I broke down. I dropped Jacob's hand and ran out the front door.

"Aria!" Embry called after me. "Jacob, go after her. She'll only listen to you."

I ran faster.

"Aria, stop!" Jacob called.

I made it to the beach but I didn't stop running. I moved quickly down the shore and stood by the mountain. I let the tide wash over my feet after I kicked off my shoes. He caught up to me as I waded out into the waves.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, Jake?"

"It looks like you're walking out into freezing cold water when it's about to rain."

"When you find out someone dies, your whole body goes cold. The water is warm to my body. It's just cold to you. And I don't care if it rains. Jake, why did this happen?"

"He was sick. There was no way for you to stop this even if you had stayed home."

"But why didn't I know? Why didn't someone tell me? Why didn't he tell me? I was his daughter. He was my father."

"You still are and he still is. Whether he's alive or not, he is your father."

"Jake, I just can't_"

My tears fell like the raindrops that were beginning to fall from the sky. The warmth of his body found the chill of mine and I began to warm up. I turned to face him and I wrapped my arms around him. I cried against him and he just held me. When the rain fell harder he carried me from the ocean. He carried me home. He carried me to my bed. He sat there with me curled against him as I cried my eyes out.

**JACOB**

I left her asleep on her bed. Her face was covered in dried tears. I didn't leave the house. I just went out to the living room and sat on the couch. I put my head in my hands and just shed a few tears. I hated seeing her that way, watching her run from her family and me as we tried to comfort her.

Embry sat on the couch next to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"She'll be okay, Jake."

"I just don't know. I've never seen her like that. She clutched onto me like she would die if she let go. I don't cry, Em, but I cry seeing her like this. It breaks my heart to feel like I can't do anything to make the pain go away this time."

"Just be there for her, that's all any of us can do."

"I love her, Embry, and I know she knows I'll always be here for her. But I don't know that she believes anyone can do anything."

"What did she say to you when you found her?"

"She was standing in the water by the cliffs. I told her she needed to get out of the water because it was cold and it was about to rain. She said that her whole body went cold when we told her so the water was warm to her. She started to cry and I went in after her. I took her into my arms and I knew what she meant. Her body was cold but where her skin was wet was warm."

"She's in shock."

"No, she's not. She is fully aware of what's happened. She's just heartbroken. Embry, I have one chance to get this right. If I can't fix her heart, how long will it be before she starts to pull away from me? Before she starts to shut me out and push me away? I can't lose her, I can't."

"I know. Until that happens, though, you need to be there for her."

"Jacob!" she cried, tears straining her voice.

"I'm coming, baby!" I called back as I stood.

"That's what I mean, Jake, just be there for her."

I looked at Embry and that's when I saw it. This was hitting the entire family so hard. The reason no one else could be there for her the way I could was because I was the only one crying for a different reason. Embry never had a real father but Aria and her parents were here all the time. Her dad was like a father to him.

I walked back to Aria's room to find her standing at the window, watching the rain fall.

"My dad used to sit outside when it would rain. When I was little, I would sit in his lap and he would tell me legends that the Makah tribe had about why it would rain. I don't really remember them but I do remember that I would love hearing them and I would fall asleep to the sound of his voice."

She put her hand to the glass and started to cry again. I moved to stand behind her and she turned quickly.

"I heard you talking to him Jacob. I'm not going to push you away. I need you now more than ever so just do what Embry said and be here for me. Like right now, I need you to be here for me and just hold onto me, tell me you love me, and please don't let me go."

I pulled her into my arms once again and she cried against me. I picked her up and put her back in bed. We lay there together the way we did when I brought her home from the beach just a few hours before. She fell asleep against me and after a bit I followed suit.

**ARIA**

I woke up before him. I didn't move though. I just wanted to sit there. The sound of his breath was soothing. My biggest problem was that I was in denial about the day before. In my mind, my father just couldn't be dead. In my mind, he wasn't old enough to die. They told me he was sick. They didn't tell me what he was sick from.

Jacob's breath caught and he took in a deep breath. He was waking up. He stretched and then looked down at me.

"Hey babe."

"Hey…" I took in a deep breath and clutched his shirt.

"You okay?"

"I'm… holding up I guess. Do you know what he was sick with?"

He sat up while still holding me to his chest so I sat up with him. "Embry said it was some kind of terminal disease. It was something he had when he was younger, before you were born. It was under control but after your mom died he stopped paying attention to when he was supposed to take his meds."

"So he killed himself?"

"I wouldn't say it like that but technically, yes, he did."

As he was talking, I felt my tears start to pool in my eyes.

"Jacob…" I whispered before I sobbed, "My daddy's dead."

I buried my face in his chest and began to cry hysterically. He held me tightly, mumbling things to me to try to calm me down. Embry came into the room at some point and Jacob passed me to him.

"Embry, we have to do something." Jacob stated in a flat monotone.

"There's nothing we can do Jake. Look at her. Let her cry it out."

Almost immediately, I fell asleep against Embry.

**JACOB**

She fell asleep again. Embry passed her to me and I lay her back on the pillows. I got out of the bed and covered her up. I also gave her my sweatshirt to hold onto because I couldn't sit there and watch her anymore. I needed to go for walk, clear my head so I could come back and tell her, and trust it when I told her, that everything would be okay.

So that's what I did. I walked to the beach and up and down the sand over and over again until finally, I just stopped moving. I stared up at the sky and at the waves, at the horizon. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Sam Uley standing there.

"Hey, Jacob."

"Sam."

"Look I just came to offer my condolences for Aria's loss. Her father was a good friend to this tribe. She must be devastated."

"She is. I've never seen her so hurt."

"This is not the end of it, Jacob. Things will begin to change for you and for her, very possibly neither for the better."

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll see soon enough."

Then he left me standing there, confused. I sighed and started my walk home.

When I made it there and back into her room, she was staring out her bedroom window. She had my sweatshirt on.

"Where did you go?"

"I went to the beach, for a walk."

She turned to me, "You look confused."

"It's nothing. I ran into Sam at the beach and he started pretty much speaking in riddles. The whole walk home I was trying to figure out what it all meant."

She walked over to me and took my face in between her hands. She ran one hand through my hair and stepped on her toes to kiss me.

"Feeling better?"

"A little bit but I'm glad you're here."

"I'll always be here."


	7. Welcome Back

**ARIA**

He was always there just like he said he would be. He was there the day of my father's funeral. He was there the countless weeks afterward. He was there when I had to go pack all of Dad's things up. He even helped me, along with Embry. He called me every night before bed and every morning after a time he could be sure I was awake.

But one call set me off.

Jacob called me to tell me he was going to the movies with Bella and a few of the other Forks kids. He asked me if I wanted to go but with everything that was going on I had missed a lot of school so I had a lot of make-up work. He said he would come over when the movie was over and stay the night.

"Okay." I said, half distracted by the paper I was writing.

"Alright, I'll see you in a little bit. I love you."

"Love you too."

He hung up the phone first and I continued my work. Around eleven, I stopped working and just decided to watch TV. It was actually kind of difficult to focus on my work with the idea of Jacob and Bella spending so much time together. The Cullens had left a few months ago and lately she's been around. She had gotten herself lost in the woods the night they left and Jacob went running to help find her. He broke a date for her that night.

The next morning I woke up on the couch alone. I reached for my cell phone and I had a voicemail from him.

"_Sorry I didn't make it. I got sick last night. I would've called but I didn't want to wake you. I'll call as soon as I can. I love you._"

I didn't hear from him until the next day. He told me his dad had taken him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with mono.

"Oh, is there anything I can do?"

"Just keep in touch. You can't come over 'because I don't want you to catch it."

"I'll call every day."

"I'll try to answer every day."

"I love you Jake."

"I love you too. I should be fine in a couple of days. But I gotta go. I'll talk to you as soon as I can."

Then I didn't hear from him. I called him but he didn't answer. Embry said it was nothing. Weeks went by and he said Jacob had been going to school. He just missed so much so he had a lot to catch up on. Something told me that was only half the story.

That couple of days turned into a couple of weeks of silence. But one afternoon, I was sitting in the living room at the coffee table doing some homework when Jacob just strolled into the house.

"Hey." He said.

"Jacob, what the hell?" I yelled, getting to my feet.

"What did I do?"

"Excuse me. It's been weeks and I haven't heard from you. Where have you been?"

"Home, around, I had mono remember."

"Right, mono. How come you didn't call when you got better?"

"Didn't Embry tell you? I had a mountain of make-up work for school. My dad said I had to finish it and if I called you I would have spent more time with you than on my work."

I sighed and shook my head. He put his hands on my shoulders and I flinched away but didn't move although his hands were scorching hot.

"Jacob, why are you hot?"

"It's natural."

"Temperature wise, Jacob?"

"That's what I came to talk to you about."

His smirk faded and his expression turned solemn.

"Jacob, what's happened?"

"Can we go in your room?"

I nodded and took his hand. I led him to my room. He sat on my bed and beckoned me to join him. I stood in front of him but didn't sit down. He pulled me down onto his lap.

"I have a question." I muttered, running my hand through his now cropped hair.

"What is it?"

"Were you at least thinking about me?"

"Every second of every minute of every hour of every day, you were always on my mind."

I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Now there's something I have to tell you but I need you to be open-minded."

"I don't get it."

"Well you're not supposed to, not yet. I haven't explained it yet. Okay, a while back, Embry went through a change and I know you noticed it. Well, all of us have gone through the same thing."

"You're talking in riddles."

"You know the legends of this tribe. Well, they aren't all legends."

"Jacob Black, if you don't tell me what's going on, you can just get_"

He shut me up with a kiss. When he pulled away he was scrutinizing my face. The kiss was brief but it had left us both breathless, me more so than him.

"Can you feel the difference?"

"Yes but what_"

He cut me off with another kiss. He pulled away again.

"Stop that."

"No."

Then he was kissing me again. He moved my arms around his neck and I didn't resist. It had been so long since I felt his kisses. I didn't know if it was the length of time we were apart but these kisses were different.

I pulled away, very reluctantly.

"Jacob…" I whispered; his lips were against my shoulder as he hummed his response, "what's happened to you?"

His deep brown eyes met mine, "I've changed Aria and I swear it may not be for the worst."

"More riddles, Jacob, really?"

"The legends are true, or at least one of them is. This tribe is descended from wolves. We're a tribe of shape-shifters, spirit warriors."

"How do you know?"

"I'm one of them, along with Sam and Paul and Jared and Embry."

"But how... I mean, Embry's not Quileute. He's Makah just like me."

"Only half, otherwise he wouldn't have changed."

"So what does that mean?"

"Someone here has a half-brother. It's Sam, Quil, or me."

"So you could be my cousin?"

"We're not gonna talk about it. Plus, there's no proof so there's nothing to talk about."

"Alright, whatever, so who else knows?"

"No one else knows on the outside but you. My dad knows and Harry Clearwater but not his wife or his kids and Sam's grandfather."

"So…"

"No, Bella does not know. At least, I can't tell her. I'm not supposed to tell anyone but you are an exception, my exception."

"Riddles, Jake."

He sighed, "Sam said that if I came through that door and you didn't hate me and a simple kiss took your breath away, that I could tell you."

"I'm still not following you."

"Okay, um, come with me to Sam's. He can probably explain this better than I can."

I nodded and moved from his lap. He grabbed my hand and started to pull me from the room. I pulled back in protest but he seemed a lot stronger than he used to be.

"You know, shoes would be nice."

He sighed and grabbed my flip flops from next to the door, but instead of letting me put them on, he lifted me up and put me on his shoulder.

"Seriously?"

"You can walk home but we'll get there faster if I carry you."

So for the walk to Sam's, Jacob carried my shoes in one hand and made sure I didn't fall with the other. I hung there and watched his feet.

"Are we there yet?"

"Just about, you should really stop complaining."

"It just seems to be taking a long time to get there."

He flipped me over his shoulder and set me on my feet.

"We're here."

I turned around to look at the house. Jake took my hand and led me inside. Jacob sat and pulled gently on my hand.

"Aria, how are you?" Sam asked as I sat down on Jacob's lap.

"I'm a bit confused right now. I'm glad to have Jake back but I really want to know what's going on."

"Tell her Jake."

He sighed so I turned to face him completely, "Jacob?"

"I… We," he gestured around the room, "are werewolves."

I started laughing, "That's good. What's the real secret?"

"It's the truth. Remember, I said that the legends weren't all just legend. This tribe is truly descended from wolves."

"Prove it."

He took my hand and pulled me outside. He didn't say anything but gestured at me to stay where I was. He ran into the woods and seconds later a huge brown wolf came out. He came closer to me and in his eyes I saw Jacob.

"Oh my god, holy shit, this is awesome."

Jacob did what seemed like a laugh. I heard everyone laughing behind me as I moved forward and hugged Jake around his neck. He rubbed his head against my shoulder.

"I could get use to this." I pulled back, leaving one hand on his body, "Wait a sec, Embry came from the Makah Rez. How does he fit into all of this?"

I watched Embry back out of the group and try to leave. Sam caught him by the shoulder.

"Jake, go phase back."

Jacob disappeared and came back a few moments later. He put his arm around my waist.

"Tell her Embry."

"There's a possibility I'm related to Sam, Quil, or Jacob."

"What?" I looked at Jacob who was diverting his gaze, "You could be my cousin?"

He nodded.

"Jake doesn't want to think about that and you shouldn't either. He phased before Jacob. He may belong to my family. It's more likely."

"But there's still a possibility."

"Jake why don't you take her down to the beach? You can explain how things are going to go from now on."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

He took my hand and pulled me from the house. He must have thought I was taking too long cause he lifted me over his shoulder and carried me away. When he let me down, my feet touched sand. He took my hand and we walked for a little while in silence. It wasn't until we got to the driftwood tree that he said anything.

"Let's sit."

He pulled me to the tree and sat on the ground next to it. He pulled me down to his lap and nuzzled his head against my hair. We sat like that in a further silence. We didn't have much to say.

"Aria, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, Jake. Just tell me. How is it going to be from now on?"

"No one can know what I am. I'll be gone a lot and sometimes I won't answer your phone calls. I'll be tired and irritable so if it seems like I'm not listening to you it's because I can't. I won't always be around and if it seems like I'm canceling plans with you it's for a reason."

"So are you guys the 'bears' the radio's been talking about?"

"That's another thing. We're not the only supernatural creatures out there."

"What else is there?"

"Vampires, the vampires have killing all those people." He paused and looked out the ocean, "It was a vampire that caused Bella to break her leg last year."

"The Cullens…"

"The Cullens are vampires."

"If it weren't for what I just saw back there I would call you all crazy."

"But you do believe us?"

"Yeah, do I have a choice?"

"I guess not." He pauses, I have a question."

"What's up?"

"Can you forgive me?"

"For?"

"For leaving you when you needed me and for just showing up like it had never happen. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"Jake, how could you think I wouldn't? Just because you left doesn't mean I stopped loving you. You mean the world to me Jake. I love you. The only way that would change is if you cheated on me."

"Well there's no chance of that."

I ran my hand through his short hair and smiled, "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"I just have one more question."

"What?"

"Why the haircut?"

"If we don't keep out hair short our wolf fur gets really long too."

I laughed at the idea of a shaggy wolf pack.

We woke to the crackling of flames. We were still on the beach and I was curled up into him. I sat up and looked around to find everyone sitting around a fire, eating s'mores.

"Hey guys, nice of you to rejoin the world." Paul said, smartly.

"Shut up." I said as I took a bag of marshmallows from him.

"How long were we asleep?" Jake asked, rubbing his hair.

"Long enough for the sun to set."

"Yeah and Mom's really mad." Embry mumbled through his mouthful of food.

"What did I do?"

"You were supposed to cover her shift at the store tonight."

"Crap, she's gonna kill me. Jake can you take me home?"

"Yeah."

We stood up quickly. I gave Embry a kiss on his cheek and ran off with Jake on my heels.

"I thought I was taking you home."

"You are."

"Did you want me to drive you?"

"Carry me. It'll be faster."

He scooped me up and ran. I made it home in record time. I opened the door slowly and listened for the lecture I knew was coming.

"She's not here."

"How do you know?"

"It's part of the wolf thing. I can't smell her or hear her for that matter."

I let out a breath.

"Do you want me to stay here with you?"

"I should be fine. Thanks for bringing me home, Jake. I love you."

"I love you too."

He kissed my forehead before turning to leave.

"Hey, Jake."

"Yeah?"

I took his hand in silence and pulled him inside. The series of kisses was sweet and gentle. As he lifted me, his lips kept contact with mine.

"Aria…" he whispered before kissing my neck softly.

"Jacob, you know, um, no one's home. My aunt will probably be working late now."

His breath caught and he looked at me, "What are you saying?"

"You know what I'm saying."

He let me down and I took his hand. We ran through the house, stopping in the hallway leading to my bedroom. He pinned me against the wall, kissing my forehead, my neck, my collarbone, my chest. He pushed the bottom of my tank top up and kissed my stomach.

I tried to say his name but the simple word got caught in my throat. His lips met mine again and he pulled me into my bedroom. He shut the door and before I knew it, I was on my back on my bed. He kissed every inch of my bare skin. I pushed him back and pulled my shirt over my head. He followed suit.

"Did the abs come with change?"

He laughed, "More or less."

I touched the muscular tan skin of his body and pulled him toward me by the belt loops of his shorts.

"So eager."

"You've been gone for weeks. Excuse me for missing you."

"Maybe I should leave more often."

I shook my head and pushed myself up to kiss him again. I parted my lips and that was when things really heated up. Our tongues met and wrestled. He took his lips away from mine so he could pull down my shorts before unbuttoning his own. I noticed he didn't have any underwear on. I started giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"No undergarments?" I asked as I took off my own.

"If I phase unexpectedly I don't want to rip my underwear too."

"Fair enough."

He kissed me softly and as he kissed me just below my left ear I whispered, "I'm ready, Jake."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I love you Jacob."

"I love you too."

When all was said and done, we laid there, snuggling.

"Are you hot?" he breathed against my neck.

"A little."

He kissed the back of my neck and I closed my eyes. He got out of the bed and pulled his shorts on. He cracked the window above my bed before leaning down to kiss my forehead. He walked toward the door.

"Jacob?" I tensed.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm just gonna go find something to eat. I plan on having dinner with my girlfriend. Now put some clothes on."

I smiled as he blew me a kiss. I found his t-shirt and my underwear. I pulled them on and followed him out of the room.

He put me up on the counter and kissed me. He opened the refrigerator.

"There's left over spaghetti on the bottom shelf."

He reached for the container, "I love your aunt's spaghetti."

"That's why I saved you some."

"You knew I'd come back?"

"I hoped."

"I guess I was gone for a lot longer than I ever thought I would be."

"You were never supposed to leave."

He sighed, "I guess I was afraid I would hurt you. Hell, I still am. You saw Emily. Sam did that to her because he got angry and lost control. What if I get angry and you're standing too close. I could seriously hurt you."

"And I would love you no less. Jake, you're my wolf and no one will replace you. No matter what happens, I'll love you."

He stepped between my legs and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him there. We stayed like that until we heard someone clear their throat.

"So this is where you've been." My aunt said; Embry standing behind her, arms crossed with a smirk on his face.

I pushed Jake away and jumped off the counter.

"I'm sorry about tonight. We were at Sam's then we went to the beach. We fell asleep and I completely forgot about working tonight."

The scowl on her face turned to a big smile before she embraced Jacob, "I'm just glad to have you back. I don't think I could've handled the mopey version of Aria another day."

We all laughed, ate leftover spaghetti and enjoyed the rest of the evening; Jake even stayed the night.


End file.
